Brannon Braga defends Seven of Nine by calling Kirk a 'sex addict'

When former Borg drone Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) was added to the Star Trek: Voyager cast back in 1997, during the show's third season, some people complained that she was too sexy for Trek. Today, former producer Brannon Braga defends the decision to add Seven to Voyager, and in the process calls Capt. Kirk a sex addict.

In a recent interview with Star Trek.com, Brannon Braga—whose new sci-fi series, Terra Nova, which Braga claims is ''so very much like Star Trek in spirit,'' is finally hittin' the airwaves on Sept. 26 on FOX—discussed how Seven of Nine provided a good ''kick in the ass'' for Voyager; how she was an excellent foil to Capt. Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) by being another ''Spock or Data''; and how Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner) ''would be considered a sex addict by today's standards'' ... but it's not just all about THAT.

Here's what Braga said:

The show [Voyager] needed a kick in the ass. Creatively, we needed something. A Star Trek series, in my opinion, is only as good as its captain, and Captain Janeway was a great captain, but she didn't have her Spock or Data, really. We just didn't have that special science-fiction character like Spock or Data, the striving-to-be-human character. The idea of putting a Borg on board gave us a chance to have a wild child there. That was the metaphor, a wild child, and Janeway would be her mother and try to tame her and help make her human again. That was a new take on that kind of character. That's not to diminish the Doctor, Bob Picardo's character. He was great, but he really wasn't a foil to Janeway. He wasn't someone Janeway could play off of.

To me, Seven of Nine added a nice touch of magic that the show needed at the time. The fact that she was a beautiful woman was just, to me, a benefit. A lot of people thought it was in poor taste that we had a buxom babe, but I'm like, "Have you actually watched TOS?" That was babes on parade. Kirk would be considered a sex addict by today's standards. A certain sensuality has always been at the heart of Star Trek. So I'd dispute that criticism of Seven. I thought the character was a great addition to the show. And it kind of lit a fire under the cast, too. It was very controversial. We got rid of Kes and brought in Seven of Nine, and some people in the cast were upset about it and some thought it was cool, but at the end of the day I think it did all the right things creatively to the show, in my opinion.

Hmmm, not so nice about Kes (Jennifer Lien), but what do you think of Braga's defense of Seven of Nine? Do you agree with what he says? But, most importantly, is Capt. James T. Kirk really a sex addict? A womanizer, yes, but a sex addict?